Hdoc: Breaking News First Interrupts Television in 1949 (Los Angeles, CA)

On April 8, 1949, a three-year-old girl fell down an abandoned water well in San Marino, California. The television coverage of the rescue attempt tapped into the deep spring of attention that a live broadcast can bring to news. Historian William Deverell visits the site of the tragic accident and discusses how the failed rescue of Kathy Fiscus previewed the wave of change that television would carry across the country.

The  Hdoc series examines The Huntington through short documentaries that expose the archives, collections, and stories that make the institution unique.